The funding will also support digital health initiatives and microbial stabilization technologies.
The $40 million financing was led by The Craftory, alongside ARTIS Ventures, GISEV, with participation from existing investors, Founders Fund and 8VC.
“We are converging advances in sequencing technologies, metabolomics, and functional strain characterization to gain insight into microbial communities and develop interventions that are effective across a heterogeneous population or personalized,” said Raja Dhir, Seed Health co-founder and co-CEO.
“These proceeds accelerate our multi-platform, multi-technology approach to efficiently take breakthrough research from discovery to market across ecosystems of the body at various life stages, developmental windows, and health conditions.”
DS-01
The company’s flagship product is called DS-01 (for daily synbiotic). It was developed with Dr Gregor Reid, Seed Health CSO, past-President of the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), and former Chair of the UN-World Health Organization Expert Panel that authored the global scientific definition of probiotics.
DS-01 is described as a “broad-spectrum probiotic with 24 genetically distinct microorganisms across 12 species, including strains with novel mechanistic data that have been investigated in multiple randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trials”.
Available as a dietary supplement, the company recently received IND authorization for a clinical trial in IBS patients with Dr. Anthony Lembo at Harvard Medical School. It is also being studied in additional clinical trials to evaluate efficacy in endpoints related to constipation, post-alcohol gut microbiota restoration, urolithin production, and recovery after broad-spectrum antibiotics.
“We are inspired to support Seed Health's bold vision to realize the potential of microbes to impact health, sustain life on our planet and revolutionize how we live,” said Ernesto Schmitt, Craftory co-founder.
“Their commitment to rigor and transparency goes beyond exceptional science and probiotic innovation. They have quickly become industry leaders in their field and stewards of a new standard in science communication and global brand-building in consumer health. Their education and sustainability-first ethos reflects our mission to invest in challenger companies and founders with conviction.”
Live biotherapeutics
Beyond the consumer health strategy, Seed Health's first live biotherapeutic will enter FDA and EMA (European Medicines Agency) trials this year for recurrent Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) with renowned microbiome researcher, Dr. Jacques Ravel, in partnership with LUCA Biologics.
“We are incredibly impressed with Seed Health's decentralized model in microbiome, which enables them to efficiently advance breakthrough research from discovery to development, validation, clinical research, and scale up. Their combination of scientific rigor, human-centered design and omni-channel expertise, uniquely positions them in the fast-growing global field of probiotics and live biotherapeutics,” stated Stuart Peterson, ARTIS Ventures' Managing Partner.
Addressing environmental health
The company has also established SeedLabs with the goal of developing microbial applications for pressing ecological and environmental challenges. The first innovation was a probiotic for honey bees.
The next initiatives will focus on coral regeneration, biomaterial development, and space, and will be announced later this year, said the company.
“Advances in research reveal the vast potential of microbes to transform how we live and care for ourselves, our children, and our environment. We are inspired to steward this next generation of probiotics and microbiome-based innovations that will disrupt and forever change the global categories of health, hygiene, diet and self-care,” said Ara Katz, Seed Health co-founder and co-CEO.
